Dbacks visit the Dodgers - Trading Deadline edition

THE VIEW FROM THE CROWS NEST

Simply put, its less than optimal.  We all are attempting to glean nuggets of optimism to find and to be honest, I'm sure that there are some.  What they might be, I will leave to you (dear readers and fellow fans) to enlighten us all and share them in the comments below.  I could wax and wane about the troubles, but I think that all of us who tune in on a semi-regular basis have a pretty good idea on what they are, how we rank them might differ, but we can all see the unraveling of the sweater from here.

Since this season is lost, our thoughts naturally begin to turn to a couple of topics:

A) who's responsible for this debacle?

and

B) who will the blame be shouldered by?

The answer to A, may not be the answer to B, will allow you all to speculate (if you wish), but I will move ahead to:

C) Will the DBacks trade with anyone and if so, who will be given their cathartic release from this train wreck of a season?

D) is there anyone who may be given a look that you are actually excited to see?

For me, the answers are open to discussion and I will provide you with my answers, simply to provide the impetus for you indicate just how wrong or right you feel me to be.

A) I think that everyone is to blame, players, coaching staff, and the FO.  Certain folks have not performed to expectations, I don't believe that the coaching staff has emphasized how to play good baseball well enough to account for the miscues in the field and the inability to pitch to the strengths of the team/field and players.  I believe the FO is guilty of not assembling a comprehensive team puzzle and understanding team dynamics.

B) I think the majority of the coaching staff, with the possible exception of Mark Grace will be gone.  I think more than a few pieces will be granted their release, for instance guys like Delgado and Collmenter and Weeks and Bourn are likely done.

C) I would not be surprised to see a mix of guys let go, Hudson, Miller, Ahmed, Drury, Tomas, Clippard, Castillo are possible (not likely, but possible).  Pitching is still an expensive commodity (Case in point, acquiring Shelby Miller) and tbh, it is starting to look like what was paid for him doesn't appear to be out of line based on the current market, see Chapman, Aroldis (if only Miller had pitched at his perceived value).

D) I think I'll just want to wait and see who does get a cup of coffee.  We may get AJ back post the deadline, I think it would be nice to see Brito play some more.

PITCHING MATCHUPS

Friday: Zack Godley (3-1/5.88/1.62) vs Kenta Maeda (9-7/3.25/1.11)

So, we have Godzilla against the Japanese National Defense Force.... you guys know how this goes, yeah, we may knock over a few buildings and bring down some power lines and blow up a few tanks during our rampage, but there is usually some plucky kid who wears shorts that are way too tight (Corey Seager, perhaps) that manages to pass along the crucial piece of information to the lead scientists (part reserved for Justin Turner) and eventually Godzilla is defeated and returns to the sea.

Saturday: Braden Shipley (0-1/10.13/2.25) vs. Scott Kazmir (9-3/4.25/1.27)

The question is, now that he's seen the show, will young Mr. Shipley shake off the effects of his first appearance and show that while he is young, he's also capable of hanging in the show?  He could well be ready but I suspect that Mr. Kazmir may have something to say about just how much run support he receives.

Sunday: Patrick Corbin (4-9/5.31/1.55) vs Bud Norris (3-2/4.40/1.19)

Pat has been a dumpster fire, yet Bud Norris is precisely the type of pitcher that we notoriously fail to rise to the occasion with.  Will Pat find his slider? Will Chachi ever love Joanie? Why do birds suddenly appear, every time that onedotfive appears?  I can't answer those questions, although I'm sure that Hotclaws has some opinions.  We'd love to see the light bulb go off for Patrick, but either he's still not fully recovered or these some flaw in his mechanics or tragically, this is who he is now post TJ surgery.

WAR PARTY

So you can tell, who has been effective and thus, who is dangerous

Dodgers:

Seager - 3.7, Turner 2.5, Utley and Pederson 1.5  (strangely enough, Howie Kendrick is only at 1.1 and afaik, he's pretty much earned most of that punching our team's collective clock)

Clayton Kershaw - 4.6, Hanley Janson - 2.9 and Kenta Maeda - 1.8

Dbacks:

Jake Lamb - 3.4, Jean Segura 2.9 and Paul Goldschmidt - 2.7

Zack Greinke - 2.6, Archie Bradley - 1.5

TACO TIME

We might get to Norris, but for some reason, I think our bats will be sleepy due to jet and travel lag.  Perhaps Tomas will go deep once again, as he's had a good road trip this far.